Nats have cards to play
07/08/09 3:08 PM EDT
The halfway mark in the Major League Baseball season has come and gone for the Nationals — 81 games down entering Wednesday afternoon’s series finale against the Colorado Rockies.
But the games themselves have long lost their meaning for the sport’s worst team. It will be what happens off the field that will spin the club toward its new direction.
The Nats have yet to name general manager Mike Rizzo to that post longterm. He is still serving in an “acting” capacity, for now. Manager Manny Acta survived the firing squad last month. But he doesn’t have a contract past this season, either. Also, the Lerner family and team president Stan Kasten still have to sign No. 1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg for the organization to maintain any credibility with fans. They have 39 days left until the Aug. 17th deadline to get a contract in place.
And then there is the trade deadline looming at the end of this month. First baseman Nick Johnson is almost certainly gone. He is a free agent at season’s end and the organization will attempt to get some value in return before then. Rizzo told ESPN 980 (AM) on Tuesday that slugger Adam Dunn will not be traded — a mild surprise, but an indication that the team will attempt to re-tool at the major-league level and not blow the roster apart. A middle of the lineup including third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, Dunn and outfielder Josh Willingham is not a bad option heading into 2010.
But what about shortstop Cristian Guzman? He also has a year left on his deal and is still in the running for one of the final National League All-Star spots. The Nats just have to hope that opposing scouts didn’t watch the Colorado series, where Guzman was absolutely atrocious defensively.
All of that means a ton of work for a team desperate to gain some traction in its rebuilding mode. But whatever the Nats become in 2010 starts with what the front office can accomplish over the next five weeks.
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